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264 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

of something supposed to represent the distant city of Verona,
with my new balcony in the foreground. All seemed to be go-
ing well till presently there came the sound of half-suppressed
laughter from the audience. The laughter increased, till at last
the whole house had discovered the mishap. Juliet retreated
in amazement and Romeo rushed off in despair, and down came
the curtain. I rushed upon the stage to find out what had oc-
curred, when to my horror I discovered that one of the boxes
had been placed with the unpainted side out, on which was em-
blazoned a semicircular trade-mark, setting forth that the very
cornerstone of Juliet’s balcony contained twenty pounds of the
best ‘short sixes.’ ”

IMMORTALITY.

By JosSEPH JEFFERSON.

(Written by Mr. Jefferson for his friend Mr. H. M. Flagler, and given by Mr. Flagler
to his friend Mr. James Sprunt.)

Two caterpillars crawling on a leaf
By some strange accident in contact came;
Their conversation, passing all belief,

Interesting Memories

Suppose we can not fly like moths or millers,

Are we to blame for being caterpillars?

Will that same God that doomed us crawl the earth,
A prey to every bird that’s given birth,

Forgive our captor as he eats and sings,

And damn poor us because we have not wings?

If we can’t skim the air like owl or bat,

A worm will turn ‘for a’ that.’ ”

They argued through the summer; autumn nigh,
The ugly things composed themselves to die;

And so to make their funeral quite complete,

Each wrapped him in his little winding-sheet.
The tangled web encompassed them full soon;
Each for his coffin made him a cocoon.

All through the winter’s chilling blast they lay,
Dead to the world, aye, dead as human clay.

Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and love;
She brings sweet justice from the realms above;
She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead;
Two butterflies ascend, encircling her head.

And so this emblem shall forever be

Unfailing sign of immortality.

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THE JENNY LIND INCIDENT.

By WALKER MEARES.

Was the same argument, the Very same,
That has been “proed and conned” from man to man,
Yea, ever since this wondrous world began.

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The ugly creatures
Sluggish, dull, and blind,
Devoid of features
That adorn mankind,

Were vain enough, in dull and wordy strife,

To speculate upon a future life.

The first was optimistic, full of hope;

The second, quite dyspeptic, seemed to mope.
Said number one, “I’m sure of our salvation.”
Said number two, “I’m sure of our damnation;
Our ugly forms alone would seal our fate

And bar our entrance through the golden gate.
Suppose that death should take us unawares,
How could we climb the golden stairs?

If maidens shun us as they pass us by,

Would angels bid us welcome in the sky?

I wonder what great crimes we have committed
That leave us so forlorn and so unpitied;
Perhaps we’ve been ungrateful, unforgiving:
’Tis plain to me that life’s not worth the living.”
“Come, come, cheer up,” the jovial worm replied,
“Let’s take a look upon the other side;

In 1850, when the great showman, P. T. Barnum, announced
that he had arranged with Jenny Lind for an American tour,
the country went wild with excitement, and when she arrived
in New York on a Sunday afternoon in September of that year,
the metropolis turned out en masse to greet her, while the Stars
and Stripes and the Swedish ensign floated above the scene in
commingled glory. The New York Herald of the following day
devoted six columns to the event—a mere prelude to the volumes
to be written later, as the triumphal passage of the great singer
swept southward to Cuba. Had the racy Punch not said: “To
call Jenny Lind the Swedish Nightingale is a compliment to the
bird, which will put an additional feather in his cap—or rather
in his tail—for the remainder of his existence”? And had not
the whole world heard of the sweetness of the spirit that found
expression in that marvelous voice? Jenny Lind’s coming was
more than a visit—it was a most blessed visitation.

If any evidence of appreciation was lacking the box-office
failed to record it. Not only in numbers but in prices was the
highest satisfaction realized. At the auction of seats at Castle